Bottle-closure.



ll. M, W. KITCHEN."

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

APPLICAIION, FILED NOV. 28, m4.

Patenmdl Dec. 112, 119116.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- 1. 1111. W. KITCHEN.

BOTTLE CLOSURE. APPLICATION mu) NOV. 28. 1914.

Patented 111%. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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MU WI HAY PASTE-UBIZED Anew: 1m Wanton:

/ Q7 /AMM/ JQSEPH MOSES WARD KITCHEN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

BOTTLE-CLOSURE.

Application filed November 28, 1914-.

To all whom it may concern.- 7 Be it known that 1, JOSEPH Moses WARD KITCHEN, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding in the city of East Orange, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bottle- Closures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device having for its object facilitating the eflicient perbottle closure, having advantages for this purpose. The present application claims various improvements in the bottle closure referred to in application Sr. No. 810,105; which improvements, among others, comprise those intended to prevent rusting of the sheet metal used in the construction of the closure cap, to give added strength to that cap, and to prevent the compressible sealing disk of the closure from adhering in the concavity of the cap.

Requirements in a bottle closure suitable for the purpose for which the present invention was devised are desirability, and adaptability to adequately sterilize the bottles contents and to prevent infection, either directly or indirectly, of the bottles contents and of the entire mouth and lip of'the bottle, including the outer surfaces of the li The several elements comprised in the in vention are shown in the accompanying figures, of vvl1ich- 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of the bottle part of my closure. Fig. 2 is an elevational sectional view of my closure on the line 2-2, Fig. 1. lit indicates a sealing disk D, and a labeling disk D in close juxtaposition above the sealing disk. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the closure cap on the line 3-3 Fig. 4. Fig. 4: is a side elevation of the metal cap. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the top of the metal cap. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the glass top of the bottle comprised in my closure. Fig. 7 is a sealing disk ll use in my closure. Figs. 8 and 9 are modified forms of the sealing disk. Fig. 10 IS an under view of the metal cap, with the sealing disk in place, though not entirely centered over the sealing seat of the bottle lip.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 12165..

Serial 1] 0. 874,385.

Fig. 11 is a labeling disk. Fig. 12 is a perforated metal disk I use during theproess.

of heating the bottle. Fig. 13 is a section of the perforated disk, taken on the line 1313 of Fig. 12'. Fig. 14: is a vertical section of my bottle closure with the perforated disk in place.

Inasmuch as all of the elements of the invention are not used coactively in place at one time, all the elements are not shown in any one of the figures in the accompanying drawings.

Among the reference characters, A. represents the bottle closure.

B represents the bottle. It may be of any known shape except as to its upper part.

B is an indrawn part of the neck of the a bottle 13.

C is the metal cap comprising part of the closure.

D is one of the paper sealing disks used in the closure.

D and D are modified forms of the sealin disk D.

3 is a labeling disk.

The lip L of the bottle has the following construction: lit has an internal vertical surface L that is without the usual recessed seat for the commonly used paper board sealing disk. L is a small curved surface defining the mouth of the bottle. L is the annular sealing seat of the bottle. It may be either a flat, horizontal, annular plane, or it may slightly slope downwardly and outwardly from the defined mouth. If is an outwardly and downwardly curved sur face projecting from, and continuous with, the sealing seat L It has a curvature having an equal radius and conformation with the curvature in the cap C, at or above the level of the top of the lip L. This downward curvature L4: is annularly, uniformly, and continuously spaced from the under side of the periphery of the. sealing disk D. L are glass lugs on the lip, the upper level of which is at or below the horizontal line e e, Fig. 2, at the base of the curvature Ti While the upper defining lines of the glass lugs are horizontal, the under defining line of these lugs slope downwardly from the horizontal in one plane. llhese lugs engage with the centripetally indented lugs C in the skirt portion C of the metal cap C. It will be observed that in these lugs there is a larger amount of glass at one end of them than. at the other end.

This construction is for the purpose of strengthening the lugs at the parts at which the most force is exerted in looking the metal cap C in place. These glass lugs are only two in number, are oppositely placed on the bottle lip, and are each 'of a length less" than one quarter of the inside periphery of the skirt portion of the metal cap C. This opposite placing of, and the limitation of length of these lugs, as well as of the coacting lugs C in the metal. cap C, allow for the quick and easy adjustment into place of the metal cap C, prior to the locking of the cap; and for the removal of the cap subsequent to its unlocking. The bellring R has a considerable and unusual projection from the vertical outer side L of the bottle lip, as also have the-glass lugs L This unusual projection provides for an air containing space A of unusual capacity around the lip of the bottle. The lugs and bellri'ng guide the metal cap to its sealing seat, and the bellring and the skirt portion C of the cap C, form a conditional seal at the level of the bellring, which protects the lip and other parts inside of the metal cap above the bellring, from insects, dust, and other infecting matters.

The cap 0 comprises a crown'sheet C", an

annular skirt portion C and a connecting annular curved, disk centering surface C 'llheinstruck lugs C lock under the glass lugs L, which locking draws downwardly the crown sheet C" of the metal cap C, compressing the sealing disk D against the sealing seat L of the glass lip L. In the descent of the metal cap in its placing, the centering curvature C of the metal cap laterally shifts the sealing disk D sufliciently to always form a sealed closure with the annular sealing seat L of the lip, no matter if the disk is not accurately centered in relation to the sealingseat before the sealing of the closure. of substantially uniform size, and horizontally disposed with the glass sealing seat L is the downstruck compression ring C Internal to this compression ring are the depressed rings C These depressed rings C and C, besides strengthening the metal cap. serve to measurably prevent the sealing disk D from adhering to the under side of the crown sheet C of the metal cap. On both sides of these depressed rings are upwardly projected cavities C and G which help in storing sterilized air under the cap of the bottle.

It will be observed that the surfaces of the centering curvature C and the skirt portion C of this cap, are entirely smooth with the exception of the instruck lugs C and have the same radius. This smoothness of surface provides for an easy maintenance of cleanly conditions in the metal cap. The

equal curvature formations on the lip and in the cap provide for a conditional seal at the highest level of the lip, if no compression seal is used. The two interlor depressed rings C 1n the cap may be replaced by stamped lettering,

or other formations which will help to prevent the sealing disk from adhering to the crown-sheet. Irregular formations of surface, however, in the cap, are not desirable. inasmuch as they tend, whether downstruck or upstruck, to catch and hold infecting matters. Mere annular depressions, such as are herein shown, however, are easily kept clean.

The interior of the cap C, if it is made from a sheet of tin coated steel or iron, as is usually the case, is coated with a special preparation of lacquer, indicated by C Fig. 3, to prevent the rusting of the iron base sheet metal. Non-corrosive sheet metal may be used in making the cap; but such material is expensive. Pin holes or other imperfections in the tin coating of the iron or steel base, afford an opportunity for the rusting of the base metal, with consequent discoloration of the cap and sealing disk.

In counteracting the rusting of the cap, the tinned sheet, of which the cap is made, has a coating of the lacquer applied and baked onto the tinned sheet from which the caps are made, before the caps are stamped into shape.

The space A between the vertical exterior sides L of the glass lip and of the skirt portion C of the metal cap, along with the concavities C and C of the curved centering surface and of the crown sheet of the cap, contain a suflicient amount of air to at least equal in bulk the gases or fluid that may be driven from the bottleduring the heating of the bottles contents; during which heating, the fluid and gases in the bottle expand. lVhen the milk is cooled after its heating, unless there is an absolutely air-tight seal, which is not usuallv the case, there is a partial vacuum formed in the bottle; and air, under atmospheric pressure, is then forced into the bottle. Inasmuch as during the cooling process, the air outside of the bottle and cap, is cooler than the air under the cap around the warm bottle lip, any air that then goes into the bottle is taken from the sterilized, warmer air underneath the cap; and air that passes the conditional seal at the bellring level, doesnot reach the upper level seal of the bottle before the partial vacuum in the bottle has been overcome by entrance into the bottle of the sterilized air from the upper levels under the cap. The conditional seal at the level of the bellring, prevents the entrance of substantially all infecting matters into the space A and prevents such matters from coming into contact with the peripheral edges of the sealing disk-gasket.

In older forms of bottle closures, the moistened edges of the sealing disks, are usually more or less exposed to atmospheric inefiective contact; and these edges being more or less moist, such infections, through reproductive activity of the infecting germs, are

conveyed to the interior of the neck of thebottle. The present closure device overcomes that common defect in other bottle closures.

The sealing disk-gasket D, is preferably made of a more or less compressible material such as wood pulp board. It is of a diameter greater than the outside periphcry of the sealing seat L and is of a sulficient diameter to extend from the outside periphery of the sealing seat L at one edge, to and across the outside periphery of the opposite part of the sealing seat to and touching the centering curvature C in the cap C. Having this size, no matter what its position may be as to its centering in its emplacement on the bottle lip, the centering curved surface C centers the sealing gasket sufliciently to effect a perfect closure of the bottles mouth. The diameter of the disk however, allows of its free dropping from the concavity of the metal cap. The periphery of thesealing disk, extending as it does, over the downward, outward curvature 1L, enablesthe person opening the bottle, to remove the disk from the bottles lip, without infecting manual or instrumental contact with the bottlelip, or with the contents of the bottle. ing disk, shown in Figs. 8 and 9, provide projecting points D, through whose action, the seal used, may be centered over' the bottle mouth, by the centering appositiona-l action of the curvature C when brought into contact with the contact points. Sealing disks of this form can be made from a lesser amount of paper board stock, than a. circular disk such as D. The circular form, however, is to be preferred, because it is more easy to manufacture and pack into rolls, and because it provides a larger surface on which labeling matter may be P ted. 1

This bottle closure can beused without having a compressible disk gasket interposed between the bottle lip and the compression ring of the bottle cap. In that case, there are two conditional seals in the closure, one at the highest level of the bottles lip, and the other at the level of the bellring. Of course, such seals are not absolutely air-tight, but if the milk ispasteurized in a vertical position in an apartment having a sterilized atmosphere, and the bottle is cooled in the same apartment, there will be no interchange of unsterilized gases between the interior of the bottle and the outside atmosphere after the bottle is removed from the heating and cooling apartiuent if the bottle is maintained in a sub- The modified forms of sealstantially upright position. It is preferable, however, to use a compressible sealing disk for the high level seal. Sealing disks made from wood pulp are generally used for this purpose, and these are 'preferably coated with paraflin on both the upper and lower surfaces. terial used for such sealing purposes, when subjected to the heat and moisture of the pasteurizing process becomes swollen, distorted, discolored, loses more or less definition of printed matter on it, and is then easily penetrated by moisture. Such moisture during the cooling of the bottle, becomes condensed on the under surface of the crown sheet C and forms there a layer of water. This water layer acts to cause the sealing disk to adhere sucker-like to the crown sheet of the metal cap; and this occurrence necessitates the removal by hand of the adhering disk before the metal cap is re-used. This requirement takes a considerable aggregate amount of time when a very large number of bottles are handled. To overcome this expenditure of time, I, during the heating of the bottle, temporarily place a non-corrosive, perforated disk 1)", upon the -compressibled1sk gasket D, before I clamp the two disks in place by the aid of a metal cap. The perforated disk D, as is shown in Figs. 12 and 13, has all of its under surface D smooth and upwardly curved at the edges of the perforations and its peripheral edge, while the upper surface D, is roughened by the upstruck edges of the perforations. The perforated openings allow air to pass between the sealing disk and the perforated disk, and prevent their adhesion. The rough edges of the upstruck perforated metal are restricted to a length that is limited in height to a level below the horizontal crown sheet surface of the metal cap. The peripheral .surface of the disk ]D is "preferably leftnentirely free from perforations or indentations. Or else, any upstruck indentations in the disk under the lines of the annular compression and spacing rings in the metal cap, are designedly left unperforated in order to prevent scratching of the lacquered surface in the cap. This provision is readily attained by the mere blunting of the points of the perforating prick punchesofthe stamping die. The perforations are minute in size in order to prevent the swelling upward into them to any considerable extent of any such part of the sealing disk 'D as would prevent the easy horizontal sliding of the metal cap during its removal from the bottle closure. The overall thickness of the metal disk is preferably not over one sixteenth of an inch. This is a particular feature, inasmuch as the vertical distance between the crown sheet of the metal cap and the locking surfaces of the compression lugs do not allow of any great vertical thick- All paper maness 'of the perforated disk if the locking closure of the seal is operatable. When in place, this perforated disk prevents the sealeasily pushed off horizontally from the seal-- ing disk, its rough upper surface providing for an effective engagement of the tips of the fingers with the disk, and for its sliding removal without breaking the seal between the sealing gasket and the bottle lip.

Although there is some slight upward swelling of the sealing disk into the openings of the perforated disk, a very slight revolution of the disk, prior to its sliding removal'from the sealing disk, prevents any disturbance of the sealing disk and the sealing seat of the bottle lip. In placing the disks D and D, the two disks are horizontally held between the thumb and fingers of one hand and thus together are equally centered over the sealing surface of the bottle lip when placed thereon. If now, however, the metal cap is v clamped into place, it will be found that the parafiined upper side of the sealing disk D has adhesive qualities, which makes its adhesion to the depressed rings 0 and C of the metal cap a possible occurrence. Furthermore, the heating process more or less obliterates printed matter on the sealin disk; and inasmuch as some printed labe of an attractive character presenting the dealers name, the grade of the milk in the bottle, and the day-date of its pasteurization, is a desirable requirement; after the cooling of the bottle, the perforated disk is replaced by a thin labeling disk having on it the necessary printed matter; which labeling disk, is of a character that is devoid of adhesive qualities on its upper side atleast.

The simplest method of rendering this labeling disk non-adhesive, is to impregnate it with some water resisting material, such as oil or varnish. Inasmuch as the sealing disk remains moist from water absorption, after the cooling of the bottle, it is obvious that some moisture would be absorbed by a dry, porous labeling disk, and thus acquire qualities that would cause it to adhere to the metal cap, the prevention of which occurrence is an important part of the present invention. 1 do not confine myself to any special method of rendering this supra-cap devoid of adhesive qualities; but impregnation with a water-resisting material is obviously the most available. The adhesion of the paper cap is mostly due to the presence of watery moisture, although paraflin has considerable adhesive quality. After this labeling disk is in place, the metal cap which preferably should be in a dry condition can be locked, and the milk can then be conveyed for distribution. When the bottle is opened, the two disks will usually be found resting on the bottle lip; and more or less adherent to it; or, if not, they will readily drop from the metal cap by slightly tapping it.

This invention comprises the idea of a compressible sealing disk-gasket for the bottle closure, having a moisture-resisting coating on its lower side, such as paraffin, and a coating of a non-adhesive character on its upper side, which non-adhesive coating, in sealing the closure, will come in contact with the crown sheet of the cap with- ,out adhering to it while dry and cold.

Subject matter is herein disclosed that is not herein claimed, but which is claimed in my copending application Sr. No. 810,105, filed January 3, 1914.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a bottle closure, the cooperating combination of, (1) a glass bottle lip comprising a flat horizontal annular sealing surface, (2) a sheet metal superimposed cap, and (3) a compressible disk gasket compressed between the lip and cap, said superimposed cap comprising a horizontal annular sealing surface, two oppositely placed lugs projecting outwardly from the sides of the lip and a bellring at the lower level of? said lip, said cap having a crown-sheet comprising an annular downstruck compression ring of a width of surface substantially the same as the sealing surface of said lip and horizontally disposed on the same plane, and other downstruck projections for spacing the sealing gasket from most of the horizontal surface of the crown sheet, said cap having a coating of heat and moisture resisting lacquer.

2. In a bottle closure, the combination with a bottle lip of, (1) means of a soft moldable compressible character for effecting a sealing closure of said lip, (2) means for downwardly compressing to and holding in contact with the top of said lip said first named means, (3) a removable means for temporarily preventing the adhesion of the first and second named means during the heating of said closure, and (4) a non-adhesive paper disk for preventing the adhesion of the first and second named means after the cooling of the heated closure and for indicating the date of the heating of said closure.

3. In a bottle closure, the combination of the following cooperating instrumentalities: (1) a bottle lip, (2) a bell cap superimposed on and covering the entire lip, (3) a com- 139 pressible sealing gasket resting on said lip, and (4) a perforated disk resting on said sealing gasket, said disk having a bottom formed in a substantially horizontal plane and being smooth thereon, but being rough on its upper surface and having numerous perforations allowing air to traverse easily through many parts of the disk to all parts of the upper surface of the sealing gasket.

4:. In a bottle closure, the cooperative combination of, (1) a lip, (2) a sealing disk, said sealing disk being coated with a waterproofing material solid at temperatures below 100 F., a metal cap for superimposition above and around the sealing disk during heating of the bottle in the process of pasteurization, and (4) a paper disk of a nonadhesix'e character superimposed above the first named disk, said combination comprising means for compressing and for holding the two disks in cooperative apposition.

5. In a bottle closure, the combination of, (1) a lip, (2) a compressible moldable adhesive sealing disk. (3) a bell cap for superimposition on and around the lin. said lip and cap having means for controllably compressing the disk onto the lip, and (4) a non-adhesive paper between the disk and the cap for preventing the adhesion of the disk to the cap.

6. In a bottle closure, the combination of, (l) a lip, (2) a bell cap having a centering surface, and (3) a sealing disk between the lip and the cap, said disk comprising peripheral projecting contact centering points.

7. In a bottle closure, the cooperating combination of a cap and a lip, said cap being formed of one stamped piece of sheet metal internally coated over the entire interior with lacquer resisting moisture and repeated pasteurizing heat, having centripetally indented lugs on the skirt portion of the lugs for cooperation with the indented lugs in the cap, said lugs compressing together and holding in place the cap and the lip.

8. In a bottle closure, the combination of the following cooperating instrumentalities, (1) a bottle lip comprising a horizontal sealing seat, and a conditional seal at a lower level of the lip, (2) a compressible sealing disk for the sealing seat, (3) a non-corrosive perforated metal disk for superimposition above the compressible sealing disk, (4) a secondary sealing disk resistent to moisture for superimposition over the first named disk, and (5) a metallic supra-cap covering the said seals and the said lip, said cap having means for acting in cooperation with said lip for compressing said seal against said lip, said cap comprising means for applying the sealing pressure exclusively over the sealing surface of said lip, said cap comprising means for partially preventing adhesion of the second named sealing disk to said metallic cap. 7

9. In a bottle closure, the combination of, (1) a lip having an upper level sealing surface and a bellring conditional sealing surface, (2) a superimposed bell cap having a sealing surface for compression against said upper sealing surface of said lip and a skirt portion for securing a conditional seal with the bellring, (3) a compressible moldable sealing material for forming an air-tight seal at the upper level of the lip, and (4) a paper disk resisting watery moisture betweeen the sealing material and the cap for preventing adhesion between the sealing material and the cap.

JOSEPH MOSES WARD KITCHEN.

Witnesses:v

GEO. Ii. Wnnnnoon, A. BERNSTEIN. 

